Bicycles, Coffee & Miscellany

Utilitaire twofer

Apologies to all those waiting for a ride report on Sunday’s 116. This post requires less effort so it line-jumped.

The Utilitaire 12 is in full swing and since it’s week 2, I figured I’d better jump in or else I wouldn’t have enough weeks to get through all my controls. Once I sat down and looked at the rules and control card, I realized it was going to be more challenging than I thought it would. It isn’t difficult because I don’t use my bike for utilitarian purposes–it’s difficult because I always use it for the SAME utilitarian purposes. Work, grocery store, lather, rinse, repeat. Sure, I’ve already done 7 but it was work or the store each time. Right then and there I decided I wasn’t going to beg for exceptions or substitutions. My path to enlightenment would be to play the game strictly by the rules and see how far I could get. For instance, I rode to the start of Bob’s ride on Sunday–that feels like utility because “too and fro” was not part of the scheduled recreational route–but it also feels like a bit of a cheat to say that. When combined with a heated post-ride discussion over drinks with fellow bikers, I probably could have labeled it as a ‘community meeting’ too. Sunday is a moot point now because I didn’t take a picture or have an epiphany while commuting to Fells Point or back. As far as the grocery store and commuting goes, I’m going to try and save those for the last week, or some time when I’m desperate to stay on schedule. For today, 1 is counted, and ‘Haircut’ is what I’m checking off.

Here’s my route, and I stopped past the Hampden Post office to drop off a return to Velo-Orange of some brakes that just didn’t fit quite right. Then I rode up to the Rotunda to get my hairs chopped.

Control# | Type: 1 | haircut

Date | Week: 2/7/2012 | week 2

Distance: 3.2 miles – out and back in less than my lunch hour.

Where: Rotunda Hair Cuttery

What did I learn? I saw a little trail in the park while plotting this out in Google maps that I’ve never been on all the way through. Apparently it’s bikeable enough that someone thought it worthy to tag as bike data.

Have to check that out and report back on one of the other Utilitaires.

I also learned that if my hair gets puffy enough I have to adjust my helmet after I get it cut.

Pictures: Oh, and here’s some boring bike photos. I’ll do better next time.